The Art of Looking Back to Move Forward
At the Florence School of Fine Arts, preservation is not a static act of archiving the past — it is a living conversation between time, craft, and imagination. We search for forgotten machinery, rediscover lost processes, and restore the tools of earlier eras — not to recreate the past, but to reinterpret it, to breathe new life into its mechanisms, and to allow its lessons to inform contemporary creation.
In our studios, the hum of an old press meets the rhythm of modern thought. Students engage directly with the tools that shaped visual culture — the letterpress, the wooden lithography press, the analog camera — to understand not only how they work, but why they mattered.
These machines carry stories of human ingenuity, tactile interaction, slowness, and attention. By restoring and reusing them, we restore something within ourselves: a sense of continuity, care, and craftsmanship.
This is not nostalgia. It is a deliberate act of learning from the past to design the future. Through hands-on engagement, students experience how design and art evolved — not as linear progress, but as a series of revolutions, reflections, and reinventions.
Looking in the rear-view mirror, we see the road that led us here — and the many possible paths ahead.
In this spirit, we often welcome the voices of practicing artists who embody these values. One such friend and inspiration is Amos P. Kennedy Jr., a renowned letterpress printer whose work bridges the past and present with bold honesty and joy.
When Amos shares his story with students — his journey from corporate life to a life devoted to printing — he reminds them that preservation is not only about keeping machines running, but about keeping ideas, courage, and craft alive.
"Preservation through Education can provide a model for a return to human-scale, sustainable industries — and to affirm that you can make a living from your craft. It's not about being so big that you have to maintain your bigness; it's about being just big enough that your craft can maintain you."
His philosophy echoes through our studios, reminding us that to preserve is also to live — to engage, to question, and to create with purpose.
Through Preservation through Education, we ensure that historical methods in printmaking, letterpress, and photography remain relevant not as relics, but as living disciplines.
Through learning and making, we honor the hands, minds, and machines that came before us, while empowering the next generation to shape what comes next.
At the Florence School of Fine Arts, we believe the future of craft lies in understanding its past. Explore our programs and discover how preservation creates possibility.